Self-lubricating journal-box.



No. 678,580. Patented July as, lam;

a. NEUBER.

SELF LUBRICATING JOURNAL BOX.

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GEORGE NEUBER, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOFREDERICK ORF, OF SAME PLACE.

SELF -LUBRICATING JOURNAL-BOX.

srnorrrcarron forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,580, dated July is,1901. Application filed March 26, 1901. Serial No. 52 882. (No model.)

1"0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE NEUBER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Easton, county of Northampton, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Lubricating Journal-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My presentinvention relates to an improvement in self-lubricatingjournal-boxes, the object thereof being to provide a simple, effective,and economical construction in which the consumption of oil will bemuchless than is commonly the case.

The invention is preminently adapted for use with locomotive or caraxles, although it can be employed with all kinds of vehicleaxles. Itrelates particularly to that class of axle-lubricators wherein wicking,such as ordinary lamp-wicking, or any equivalent soft fibrous materialis employed as the means for feeding the lubricant to the axle arm orjournal.

The invention therefore consists, essentially, in the improved meanswhich I employ for holding the wicking continually and constantly incontact with the axle or journal with the necessarydegree of pressure tocause the soft flexible wicking material to embrace the sides of theaxle-journal and cause the oil which rises through the said fibrousmaterial to bathe said journal, the whole operation being to the end ofeffecting perfect lubrication of the journal with an economical use ofthe lubricating material; and the invention may also be said to consistin numerous details of the combination and arrangement of parts,substantially as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is alongitudinal sectional view of my improved self-lubricating journal-box,the journal being shown in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a transversesection of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the wickcarryingframe, showing the two wicks arranged in operative position therein.

Like symbols of reference designate like parts throughout the differentfigures of the drawings.

1 designates the lower half of a car-axle box, the part that is commonlydenominated the cellar box. This is intended and adapted to contain thelubricating liquid, and I use any good lubricant which is sufficientlyfluid to rise through the wicking or fibrous sheets which dependthereinto.

3 denotes the journal spindle or axle, on which is the brass part 2,which is designed to be covered by the upper half of the journal-box(not shown) in the usual manner.

I lay no special claim to the shape or form of the frame of the box, andhence have not attempted to show all the details thereof in the presentdrawings, as the mode of construction may be varied and is well knownand as my only purpose in showing the frame of the box is to indicatethe manner of arranging the parts of my improvement in referencethereto. Hence it will be perceived that my invention is equallyapplicable to a large number of diverse forms of boxes, it being onlynecessary that the frame below the journal should provide the cavity orreceptacle to contain the lubricating material and to permit thearrangement therein of the Wick-carrying means,which constitutes a partof my mechanism.

The form of the cellar-box 1 in the present example of my invention isrectangular, and arranged therein I place a rectangular skeleton frame13, supported a short distance above the bottom of said box on suitablecorner shoulders or lugs 14:, cast on the interior of the box 1. Pivotedto this frame 13, preferably to the longitudinal or longer sidesthereof, are pairs of weighted arms 6 6, which I will presently speak ofin greater detail. Supported on the frame 13 is the wick-carrying frame4, which has a general rectangular shape, as indicated in Fig. 3, inorder to allow it to fit easily but not too loosely within the box 1,said carrier being preferably made of sheet metal in substantially theform represented, having vertical longitudinal sides and ends to slipinto convenient proximity to the sides and ends of the box 1 when thecarrier is in its normal position and having like wise a concave upperface 5 substantially concentric with the journal or axle 3 and situatedbelow the same in convenient proximity thereto. The longitudinal edgesof said.

concave face 5 rise into horizontal ribs 15 15, that come into actualcontact with the cylindrical face of the journal or would come into suchactual contact were it not for the intervening Wicks 11 11, that arecarried by the frame 4 and which spread over the concave face 5 and passaround the longitudinal ribs 15 15.

At the center of the concave face 5 of the wick-carrying frame 4 is alongitudinal slot 10. Through this slot pass two wicks or fibrous sheets11 11 (see Figs. 2 and 3) from the bottom of the interior of the box 1,which, We have seen, is filled with lubricating liquid, upward to theupper side of the concave face 5, where said two wicks diverge and leadto the longitudinal ribs 15 15, passing over the latter and thendownwardly through slots in the longitudinal sides 16 16 of the wickcanrying frame 4. These ends of the wicks 11 engage the latter slots simplyfor the purpose of being attached at these points to the frame 4. Thusit will be seen that the lubricating material which rises through thewicks is applied to the under side of the journal 3 by reason of thefact that the wicks lie in contact therewith.

It is essential in my improved self-lubricating journal-box that thewicks 11 11 should be kept constantly in contact with the journal,bearing thereon with the requisite degree of pressurethat is to say,with a yielding gentle contact which will be kept constant, but yet willnot be so strong as to cause friction and constant wear upon thewicking--and hence means must be employed to lift the wick-carryingframe 4 with a constant upward tendency. Said means in my presentexample consists of the weighted levers hereinabove alluded to. Theselevers G 6 are pivoted at 7 7 to the sides of the horizontallongitudinal frame 13, the lower ends of said levers being formed asweights 8 8, while the upper ends are shaped with the curved lugs 9 9,that bear against the under or convex side of the concave face 5 offrame 4. There are preferably two of these weighted levers 6 on eachside of frame 13, and consequently there will ordinarily be four pointsof contact against the under side of concave 5 to cause elevatingpressure against the wickcarrier and the Wicking. Manifestly the weights8 will under the action of gravity force the curved lugs 9 firmlyagainst the concave 5 and exert a lifting effect upon frame 4. In thismanner the wicks are kept constantly in lubricating and bathing contactwith the journal, so that the oil that is fed through the Wicks may beapplied for service.

Numerous changes may be made in the exact construction and precisearrangement of the parts I have herein shown and described. The weightedlevers, for example, may be e'rejso pivoted directly "to the inner wallsof the cellar-box 1 instead-of to the frame 13, in which A making suchadjustments and changes in form and shape of the parts as may seem bestadapted for them in the actual making of them for use without goingoutside of the proper scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a self-lubricating journal-box, the combination with a lubricantcontaining chamber, and a journal, of a slotted wickcarrying frame andlevers acting loosely against said frame to lift the same sufiicientlyto cause the wicking to remain in constant lubricating contact with thejournal.

2. The combination witha journal, and the lubricant-containing chamberbelow it, of a wick-carrying frame having a concave upper face with acentral slot and lateral longitudinal ridges, wicks or fibrous sheetspassing through the central slot and over the lateral ridges,andweighted levers beneath the frame for exerting a lifting effect thereon.

3. The combination with a journal, and a lubricant containing chamberbelow it, of a wick-carrying frame through which the Wicks pass from thelubricant, said wicks lying in contact with the face of the journal, andpivoted levers having weights at one end and having their opposite endsin loose bearing contact with the under side of the wick-carrying framefor the purpose of lifting the frame so as to keep the wicks in constantinbricating contact with the journal, as set forth.

4. The combination with a journal, and a lubricant-containing chamberbelow it, of a Wick-carrying frame having a concave upper face providedwith a central slot and longitudinal lateral ridges, wicks passing fromthe lubricant up through the central slot and into contact with thejournal, and pivoted levershaving weights at one end and having theirother ends in contact with the under portion of the concave so as tolift the frame and cause the wicks to exert a lubricating contact uponthe journal, substantially as described.

Signed at New York city this 8th day of March, 1901.

GEORGE NEUBER.

Witnesses:

FRED E. TASKER, RITA BRADT.

IIO

